In addition to having advanced computing and connectivity capabilities to facilitate high-speed data communication, many modern mobile devices include a variety of sensors. For example, mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets, and wearable computing devices, are often equipped with sensors for imaging, positioning, and relative motion determination. A few examples of sensors that may be found in a mobile device include accelerometers, gyroscopes, global positioning systems (GPSs), compasses, microphones, cameras, Wi-Fi sensors, magnetic sensors, and pressure sensors, among other types of sensors.
Applications that are configured to operate on a mobile device may take advantage of the wide variety of available sensors to perform various functions. As an example, many applications take advantage of positioning sensors available on a mobile device to provide location-based services. A few of the most common mobile location-based services include mapping, navigation, and searching for nearby restaurants or stores. As another example, some mobile applications track health and fitness information using sensors of a mobile device. Other applications use sensors in mobile devices to facilitate monitoring environmental conditions. The applications described above are just a few of the many examples of applications that utilize sensors of a mobile device.